Night vision monocular housing and universal system for using same in various applications

ABSTRACT

A night vision monocular housing for containing an assembly of night vision components within, for releasably attaching the assembled night vision device to a universal rail having a plurality of ribs provided on the rail, including at least one raised portion provided on the surface of the housing, a clamping apparatus provided on a surface of the raised portion having first and second parallel protuberant walls defining a channel for snugly seating the universal rail within, the walls each having an inner surface and an outer surface thereof, wherein the inner surface of at least one wall is generally concave providing a mating surface for seating against an adjacent lateral side of the universal rail, and a biasing means for releasably attaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail. An adapter for a preexisting night vision monocular device to be releasably attached to a rail surface, and a universal assembly for releasably mounting a novel night vision monocular to a particular application and switching the monocular to other mounted applications more quickly and efficiently, are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to night vision devices. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a night vision devicehousing having improved means for mounting to a weapon and to headgear.

II. Description of the Prior Art

Night vision devices are a necessity in today's military and lawenforcement applications. Besides allowing movement in low lightconditions and even in complete darkness, attempts have been made toemploy night vision monoculars on weapons, particularly rifles, in orderto more accurately engage targets under these conditions. These attemptshave all included the need for special mounts, which fasten to themonocular on one end of the mount, and fasten to the weapon on the otherend. The weapon most often has a picatinny rail employed on its topsurface, which the mount attaches to using various rail grabbing meansknown in the art.

Attempts to attach the monocular to the mount have included using screwsto engage threaded bores located within the monocular housing. Thissuffers from the obvious need for small screws and bulky screwdriversthat may not only hinder the operative's objective, but also may easilybe lost and render the night vision device inoperable in theweapon-mounted application.

Another attempt has been to provide a rectangular bracket on the housingof the monocular for engaging with special mounts. The bracket hasflanges, which slide within grooves of the special mounts and the mounthas a biased male protuberance which engages in a slotted portion of thebracket. This did away with the need for special tools and screws tomount the device to a weapon mount; however, it still requires a weaponmount to attach the device to a universal weapon rail.

Besides the need for mounting a night vision monocular to a weapon, theyhave also been employed on various headgear, i.e., helmet mounts andhead mounts, for simply moving about in a low light or no lightenvironment hands free. Even mounting these devices to different formsof headgear require the use of special adapters. These adapters attachto the monocular in much the same way as the weapon mount does. Theadapter is fastened to the headgear using a stud provided on the adapterand a receptacle provided on the headgear. The other end of the adapteris then fastened to the monocular using the same means as which attachesthe monocular to the weapon-mounted application as previously described.Other versions of night vision devices knows as goggles, which providesa sight picture for both of the operator's eyes, can be mounted to thesame headgear, as night vision goggles also have a stud provideddirectly on the housing of the goggle for interfacing with thereceptacle of the headgear. The use of two monoculars simultaneously asa binocular or google has also developed the need for a dual monocularbracket which also attaches to headgear in the same manner as theheadgear adapters described herein.

These various weapon mounts and dual monocular brackets are anadditional piece of equipment which may be lost or damaged in the field,hindering or preventing the ability of the operative to perform theirduty, which may also endanger their life in a hostile environment. Theseweapon mounts also require two points of attachment in order to adaptthe monocular to its specific task, requiring the operative to spendmore time preparing their night vision device for the particularapplication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nightvision monocular housing that solves the problems associated with theaforementioned prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a night visionmonocular housing that mounts directly onto a universal weapon railwithout the need for a special weapon mount.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a nightvision monocular housing with attachment means provided on the housingthat can mount directly onto a universal weapon rail, a head/helmetmount adapter, and dual monocular bracket, independently.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a nightvision monocular housing that is prepared by the operator for itsparticular application more quickly.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a nightvision monocular housing that has a provision for quickly assembling twounits into a binocular.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a night visionmonocular housing of improved ergonomic shape by providing a centrallylocated battery compartment away from the periphery of the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings disclosing preferred embodiments of thepresent invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawingsare designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as adefinition of the limitations of the invention. Similar referencecharacters denote similar elements throughout the figures.

FIG. 1(a) is a left perspective view of a prior art night visionmonocular housing manufactured by US NightVision designated USNV-14;

FIG. 1(b) is perspective view of a prior art weapon mount used to attachthe monocular of FIG. 1(a) to a picatinny weapon rail;

FIG. 2(a) is a right perspective view of the monocular housingencompassing a first embodiment of the present invention having athumbscrew clamping apparatus provided thereon;

FIG. 2(b) is a rear operator's view of the monocular housing of FIG.2(a) securely affixed to a universal rail commonly found on most modernmilitary rifles;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the monocular mounted to a weapon rail ofFIG. 2(b), but now the rail is shown attached to the upper receiver ofan M4 rifle, and the monocular is shown behind an EOTech optical sight;

FIG. 4(a) is a right perspective view of the monocular housingencompassing a second embodiment of the present invention showing themonocular housing having a lever-actuated camping apparatus providedthereon;

FIG. 4(b) is a rear operator's view of the monocular housing of FIG.4(a) securely affixed to a universal rail commonly found on most modernmilitary rifles;

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the monocular mounted to a weapon rail ofFIG. 4(b), but now the rail is shown attached to the upper receiver ofan M4 rifle, and the monocular is shown behind an EOTech optical sight;

FIG. 6(a) is a right perspective view of the monocular housingencompassing a third embodiment of the present invention illustratingthe monocular housing having a variant of the thumbscrew clampingapparatus of FIGS. 2-3;

FIG. 6(b) is a rear operator's view of the monocular housing of FIG.6(a) securely affixed to a universal rail commonly found on most modernmilitary rifles;

FIG. 7 is a right side view of the monocular mounted to a weapon rail ofFIG. 6(b), but now the rail is shown attached to the upper receiver ofan M4 rifle, and the monocular is shown behind an EOTech optical sight;

FIG. 8 is a mirror view showing the upper and lower perspective views ofa fourth embodiment of the present invention illustrating a clip-onadapter that easily retrofits an existing night vision monocular to anembodiment illustrated in the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 8 illustratinghow it attaches to an existing USNV-14 monocular showing the clip-onembodiment in phantom;

FIG. 10(a) is a front view of the monocular of the first embodiment ofFIGS. 2-3 mounted to a headgear adapter to be used in conjunction withthe present invention, for adapting the monocular to an existing headmount or helmet mount, shown here attached to a helmet mount;

FIG. 10(b) is a front view of the monocular of the second embodiment ofFIGS. 4-5 mounted to a headgear adapter to be used in conjunction withthe present invention, for adapting the monocular to an existing headmount or helmet mount;

FIG. 10(c) is a front view of the monocular of the third embodiment ofFIGS. 6-7 mounted to a headgear adapter to be used in conjunction withthe present invention, for adapting the monocular to an existing headmount or helmet mount;

FIG. 10(d) is a left side view of FIG. 10(a);

FIG. 11(a) is a front view of a dual monocular bracket having railattachments for mounting two monoculars of the present invention shownin the embodiment of FIG. 13, to an existing head mount or helmet mount,shown here attached to a helmet mount;

FIG. 11(b) is a bottom perspective view of the dual monocular bracket ofFIG. 11(a) showing attachment of two monoculars of the present inventionin phantom;

FIG. 12(a) is a further embodiment of the present invention depicting amonocular of the embodiment of FIGS. 13, shown having attachmentembossments provided on the surface of the monocular housing forattaching itself and a second identical monocular to a hinged apparatusfor creating a hand held binocular;

FIG. 12(b) is an exploded view illustrating the attachment between themonocular of FIG. 12(a) and the hinged apparatus;

FIG. 13(a) is a rear operator's view of another embodiment of amonocular housing of the present invention shown mounted on a weaponrail with the identical clamping apparatus as depicted in the embodimentshown in FIGS. 6-7, but having the power switch and battery compartmentrelocated to a centralized location, creating a more ergonomic design;and

FIG. 13(b) is a perspective view of the monocular of FIG. 13(a).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1(a) is an example of a prior art night vision monocular device 100whose housing is manufactured by US Night Vision, designated USNV-14.Typical features on this device include ocular (not shown) and objective199 lenses, power switch 190, battery compartment 150, and infraredilluminator spotlight focus knob 151. Bracket 130 is used for attachingthe device to a special weapon mount 140 and to a headgear mount toadapt the night vision device to either application. The bracket isdivided into two distinct fixtures 125, 127 defining a slot 135therebetween perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bracket. Thetop edges of the two fixtures 125, 127 of the bracket 135 have flanges120.

The weapon mount 140 of the prior art (FIG. 1(b)) has a clampingapparatus 148 including a channel 141 for providing the bracket 135 ameans for sliding within. The bracket flanges 120 of the housing 100slide within grooves 142 on the inner surface of walls 145, 147 of theweapon mount 140. Flanges 144 provided on the top inner surface of walls145, 147 retain the flanges 120 of the bracket 130 within grooves 142. Abiased male protuberance 143 on the weapon mount 140 engages the slot135, thereby locking the device 100 to the weapon mount 140. Releaselever 146 retracts the protuberance 143 and disengages the weapon mount140 from the bracket 130. On the opposite end of the weapon mount 140 isa rail grabber (not shown) used to mount to the universal rail of aweapon (not shown). This is one example of how a night vision monocular100 of the prior art has been employed on a weapon rail.

Turning now in detail to the appended drawings, particularly FIGS. 2-3,therein illustrated is a first embodiment of a novel night visionmonocular housing 200 embodying the concepts of the present invention.Monocular housing 200 is primarily cylindrical and hollow to accept thestandard components of a night vision device, including but not limitedto ocular 298 and objective lenses (not shown) and an image intensifiertube (not shown). The monocular housing has provided thereon a batterycompartment 250 for containing the power source and a power switch 290.Optional infrared navigation light may have an adjustable focus knob 251over it making it able to focus infrared light out to varying distancesfrom the operator. This assists the operator in viewing under extremelow light or no light conditions, for example, indoors with no lightpresent, since infrared light is below the discernible human visiblespectrum, but can be seen with night vision equipment. Additionalaccessories are a sacrificial lens 270 shown on the end of the objectivelens for its protection, a demist shield (not shown) covering the ocularlens on the other side of the monocular housing, and a rubber eyepiece285 for shadowing out external light from the operator's viewing eye.

Of particular significance is a raised portion 240 which may either bean integral part of the monocular housing 200 and permanently fixed toit, or may be featured as a separate piece (discussed later) that may beclipped, screwed, or attached by any other means known in the art toexisting housings. Raised portion 240 needs to have a sufficient heightin order to raise the monocular housing high enough off of the universalrail 280 of the weapon 265 so as to be aligned with the optical sight275, so that the sight 275 may be viewed and used in low or no lightenvironments. A height of ⅝ has worked properly for this sight and hasgiven the operator proper eye relief. However, especially if the raisedportion 240 is detachable from the housing 200, raised portions 240 ofvarying heights may be offered and exchanged in seconds to maximize theoperator's comfort and proper eye relief when using different sightingsystems, rails, and weapons.

A clamping apparatus known in the industry as a “rail grabber” 230 forclamping onto various types of rails, is provided on the base of theraised portion 240 for securely attaching the housing 200 to theuniversal rail 280 of the weapon 265. The rail grabber 230 includes achannel 235 defined by two parallel protuberant walls 225, 227 forsnugly seating a universal rail 280 within. The channel 235 is placed ontop of the rail 280 with the monocular 200 facing in the properdirection. In the present embodiment, a thumbscrew 210 passing throughthe channel 235 is seated between two consecutive ribs 260 of the rail280. The generally concave grooves 220 in the walls 225, 227 of the railgrabber 230 seat around the lateral surfaces 255 of the rail 280 whenthe housing 200 is placed on top of the rail 280. The contour of thegrooves 220 of the walls 225, 227 compliment the contours of the lateralsurfaces 255 of the rail which create a secure grasping area whentightened. These grooves 220 may be beveled into the inner surface andhave a dovetail-shaped profile to compliment the tapered shape of thelateral sides 255 of the rail 280.

The thumbscrew 210 is provided as a biasing means for gripping theclamping apparatus 230 to the universal rail 280. A first wall 225 isprovided as a non-unitary member with respect to the rest of the railgrabber assembly 230. A second wall 227 is provided as a unitary memberand is an integral part of the assembly 230. The thumbscrew 210 passesthrough axially aligned bores provided through both walls 225, 227, withthe bore of the second wall 227 being threaded. Tightening of thethumbscrew 210 advances the first wall 225 towards the second wall 227,which when mounted on rail 280 results in the secure gripping of thewalls 225, 227 upon the lateral surfaces 255 of the rail 280. Thethumbscrew 210 may optionally have a washer (not shown) installedbetween it and the first wall 225. The thumbscrew 210 is to be tightenedenough so as to prevent the monocular 200 from shaking loose from therecoil of the weapon 265 as well as other vibrations and shock that aweapon 265 may encounter in a hostile environment.

FIGS. 4-5 depict a second embodiment of the night vision monocularhousing 300 of the present invention. Similar to the first embodiment200, a raised portion 340 is provided on the surface of the monocularhousing 300 having a rail grabber apparatus 330. Also as in the firstembodiment 200, the raised portion 340 may be provided as a singleunitary construction with the housing 300 or may be provided as anindependent piece that may be attached to a pre-existing housing in anynumber of ways known in the art. Pre-existing raised portions 340 ofvarying heights would also enable the operator more versatility in thefield in choosing a correct height for proper eye relief.

The rail grabber 330 of the present embodiment differs slightly fromthat of the first embodiment. They share many common components, suchas, a rail grabber clamping apparatus 330, a pair of adjacently spacedfirst and second walls 325, 327 on either side of channel 335, raisedportion 340 to provide a clearance height for properly aligning thedevice 300 on a weapon rail 380 for use with an optical sight 375, powerswitch 390, battery compartment 350, infrared illuminator spotlightfocus knob 391, ocular 398 and objective (not shown) lenses, andsacrificial lens 370. The inner surface of the first wall 325 in thisembodiment has a beveled dovetail-shape contoured surface 320. Aprotuberant member 326 which seats between two consecutive ribs 360 ofthe rail 380 proves additional stability preventing forward and rearwardmovement of the rail grabber 330 on the rail 380 (the thumbscrew in thefirst embodiment accomplishes this). Alternatively, the second wall 327has no beveled inner surface. It simply abuts the adjacent lateralsurface 355 of rail 380 and the clamping biasing force is accomplishedthrough the use of a biased cam bar 315. A lever 310 provided on theopposite side of an extended surface of the second wall 327 is in directcommunication with a cam 317. After the monocular 300 is placed on theweapon rail 380, the operator rotates the lever 310 one hundred eightydegrees which rotates the cam 317 and locks the monocular 300 to theweapon rail 380. Towards the end of the lever's stroke (one hundredeighty degrees), the cam 317 comes into communication with cam bar 315forcing it outwardly towards the rail 380 which grasps the underside ofthe adjacent lateral surface 355 of the rail 380 securely locking thetwo. The cam 317 locks the cam bar 315 in this position preventing itfrom retracting while the lever 310 is in this position. The innersurface of second wall 327 together with the cam bar 315 act to securelygrip the rail 380 on that respective side, while the dovetail beveledinner surface 320 of the first wall 325 act to grip that respective sideto the lateral side 355 of the rail 380. FIG. 5 shows the lever 310 in alocked position after the operator has placed the monocular 300 onto therail 380 and rotated the lever 310 one hundred eighty degrees.

FIGS. 6-7 illustrate a third embodiment of the monocular housing 400 ofthe present invention. The rail grabber clamping apparatus 430 in thisembodiment illustrates a variation of the first embodiment. A threadedmember, or thumbscrew 410 is shown, similar to the embodiment shown inFIG. 2(a). However, here the threaded bore 428 is provided in anadvancing section 429 contained within a recess in the second wall 427that moves laterally in and out of the second wall 427. This section 429preferably has a dovetail bevel 420 similar to that discussed in theprevious embodiments for accommodating the later surface 455 of rail480. The biasing means functions opposite to that of the firstembodiment in FIGS. 2, that is upon advancement of a rotating axialmember (ie, thumbscrew) 410, the advancing section 429 of the secondwall 427 advances towards the rail 480 seated within the channel 435 ofrail grabber 430. The rail grabber 430 is released from the rail 480 byturning the thumbscrew 410 in the opposite direction.

FIG. 8 illustrates a fourth embodiment of a device 500 that retrofits anexisting night vision monocular 100 of the prior art to a weapon railaccording to the present invention. The concept of utilizing the railgrabber clamping apparatus 530 and raised portion 540 as a non-unitarypiece from the monocular housing 100 depicted in the upper reflectionview, has previously been disclosed in the description of the first andsecond embodiments, although may also be used in any of the embodimentsherein. The present embodiment affords the operator the ability to use arail grabber clamping apparatus 530 of their choice, i.e.,lever-actuated, thumbscrew, etc., as well as using a raised portion 540that suits their height requirement for proper eye relief, all in onepredetermined adapter 500. The attachment means on the upper surface ofthe adapter 500 may be provided to suit an existing monocular 100according to its own attachment requirements. The bottom reflection viewshows an attachment means known for the USNV-14 monocular 100 of theprior art.

For this type of monocular, the upper surface of the device 500 has achannel 541 defined between two adjacent parallel frame members 545, 547that project from the upper surface. The inner surfaces of these framemembers 545, 547 preferably have grooves 542 cut along their lengths.The top edges of the clamping apparatus 548 have flanges 544 formed onthem so that the monocular mounting bracket 130 (FIG. 1(a)) can slidewithin grooves 542 and be held within the channel 541 by the flanges544. The monocular 100 (FIG. 1(a)) is locked in place when a biased maleprotuberance 543 provided within the channel 541 orientedperpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the channel 541 engages witha slot 135 in the bracket 130 that divides the bracket into two fixtures125, 127 (see FIGS. 1 and 9).

The monocular housing of the present invention must also be adaptable touse on head mounts and helmet mounts as monoculars of the prior art are.Existing headgear is satisfactory and for simplicity, there is no needfor special headgear to be manufactured to be used with the presentinvention. It affords the operator with various features as illustratedon the helmet mount in FIGS. 10, including angular adjustment knob 720,a detachable headgear body 740 and detach button 760 which allows forremoval of the body and avoids wasted time in taking off and reapplyingthe entire assembly 700, helmet mounting hooks 750, a rail 730 and railadjustment knob 770 for adjusting the distance between the monocular200, 300, 400 and the operator's eyes for proper eye relief, and pivothinge 780 for flipping the night vision 200, 300, 400 device up and awayfrom the operator's view when not needed.

For many makes of night vision monoculars, headgear is provided andsupplied with an adapter similar to the adapter 600 to be used with thepresent invention, shown in FIG. 10. This adapter 600 attaches to theheadgear (helmet and head mounts) as described in Kastendieck et al.,U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,783, using a stud 610 provided on one end of theadapter and a receptacle provided on the headgear (750 in FIG. 12(a)).The opposite end of the adapter of the prior art attaches to themonocular with the required mounting provision for the specificmonocular used, ie, holes for screw fastening, or a bracket as discussedin the prior art monocular 100 USNV-14 of FIGS. 1 and 9.

To accommodate the present invention, however, this bracket 600 can beprovided with a short picatinny rail 280, 380, 480 in place of theattachment provisions provided with known headgear adapters. This wouldenable the rail grabber clamping apparatus 230, 330, 430, 530 (FIGS.2(a), 4(a), 6(a), 8) of the present invention to quickly attach anddetach from an otherwise existing headgear adapter. The headgear adapter600 to be used in conjunction with the monocular 200, 300, 400, 4000(FIGS. 2, 4, 6, and 11) of the present invention or the clip-onembodiment 500 of FIG. 8, would have to be manufactured having adifferent arc angle for proper eye relief. The headgear adapter of theprior art mounts closely to the surface of the prior art monocularhousing. Due to the raised portion 240, 340, 440, 540, 4400 on themonocular housing 200, 300, 400, 500, 4000 of the present invention, theadapter 600 to be used in conjunction with the present invention musthave its mounting provision 280, 380, 480 higher from the operator'ssight plane than the current location of the mounting provision of theheadgear adapter of the prior art. This is required to maintain propersight alignment and eye relief. As discussed earlier, a raised portion240, 340, 440, 540, 4400 of ⅝ was found to work well, so contouring theheadgear adapter 600 so that its picatinny rail 280, 380, 480 wouldattach to the rail grabber apparatus 230, 330, 430, 530, 4300 of themonocular housing 200, 300, 400, 500, 4000 of the present inventionabout ⅝ higher from the operator's sight plane relative to where theadapter of the prior art would attach to a monocular 100 of the priorart, would compensate for the raised portion 240, 340, 440, 540, 4400.

FIGS. 11 illustrate an embodiment compatible with any of the embodimentsdiscussed herein. It relocates the power switch 490 and batterycompartment 450 (FIGS. 6) from the periphery of the monocular housing4000 to closer to the center of mass of the monocular unit 4000. Thepower switch 4900 is offset to the side of raised portion 4400 and acentrally located bore 4500 within the raised portion 4400 of themonocular 4000 houses the battery compartment 4500. This eliminates theclumsiness associated with handling an obtrusively shaped monocular andresults in a sleeker and more ergonomic design. The infrared illuminatorhas been omitted for simplicity of the drawing, but may easily beencompassed in this or any other embodiment.

Certain mission requirements may call for a night vision goggle for usewith both eyes, known as a PVS-7. These devices use a single imageintensifier tube that displays the same image in both lenses for both ofthe operator's eyes to view. Other missions may require a night visiongoggle that provides better depth perception than these single imagetube goggles are able to provide. Consequently, many military and policehelicopter pilots are issued PVS-14B night vision goggles, which are twosingle monoculars (PVS-14's) attached together through the use of abracket resulting in a dual image tube goggle, rather than a singleimage tube goggle (PVS-7). FIG. 12 illustrate a bracket 800 that may beused with two monoculars 4000 of the present invention. Picatinny rails880 are provided on the lower surface of the bracket to facilitatemounting of two monoculars 4000 of the present invention. This bracket800 is then attached to a headgear 700 of the prior art, again asdescribed in Kastendieck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,783, using a stud810 provided on one end of the bracket 800 and a receptacle 750 providedon the headgear 700. A bracket of the prior art has stud 810 located onits upper surface, however with the addition of the rails 880 to thebracket 800 to be used in conjunction with the present invention, itlowers the overall sight plane of the monoculars and therefore the lever810 is provided on the lower surface of bracket 800 to compensate forthis. The bracket 800 has features in common with that of the prior art,such as adjustment knobs 890 so that the operator may move themonoculars 4000 laterally to adjust for proper eye relief.

The monocular of the present invention as well as monoculars of theprior art have the provision for mounting a magnification lens over theobjective lens for long distance viewing under low light conditions. Ifthe operator wishes to use the dual monocular configuration discussedherein as a binocular for quick viewing without the need for mountingboth to headgear or the use of the dual monocular bracket 800, FIGS. 13illustrate an embodiment that most easily accomplishes this. The presentembodiment provides for quick attachment of a hinge apparatus 900 to theperiphery of the monocular housings 4000. In this embodiment, a pair ofsquare shaped embossments 940 are provided on the surface of eachmonocular 4000, the embossments 940 each having a through hole 950aligned axially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the monocular 4000.The embossments 940 are provided away from the clamping apparatus 4300discussed earlier, to avoid clearance problems. A simple U-shaped hingeapparatus 900 with through holes 960 provided at both ends of the U arepinned 920 between the embossments 940 holding the hinge apparatus 900to each respective monocular 4000. The base of the U-shape preferablycompliments the contour of the monocular surface so as to provide aflush mating surface preventing rotation at the pinned sections and onlypermit rotation at the center hinge 930. To further prevent rotation atthe connection points, the embossments 940 may be made longer and havetwo axially aligned through holes 950 for two pin 920 attachments permonocular 4000, with corresponding through holes 960 provided in theU-shaped hinge (not shown).

Another simple apparatus which attaches two monoculars 4000 together tocreate a hand held binocular, would be a hinged double-sided picatinnyrail 1000 as illustrated in FIGS. 14. Although this may have sizelimitations for current production monoculars, with the progression oftechnology, the size of monocular housings and their components areexpected to decrease in size making this apparatus a simple and viableconnection means.

Other changes and modifications may be made as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. For example, other types of “rail grabbers” known inthe art to be used to engage with picatinny rails may be substituted forthe specified examples. Similarly, the upper surface of the adapterembodiment may have other means for attaching to existing night visionmonoculars provided on its top surface that is specific to the type ofmonocular being used, and may also be known in the art. The termuniversal rail and picatinny rail were interchanged through thespecification, however other types of rails known in the art, i.e.,Weaver rail, etc., are also compatible with the spirit if thisinvention. The specified embodiments were only intended to be exemplaryand not an exhaustive list of possible embodiments that may be used thatstill capture the scope of the invention. Variations thereof are stillencompassed in the scope of the invention. Therefore it is to beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within thescope of the following claims.

1. A novel night vision monocular housing for containing an assembly ofnight vision components within, for releasably attaching the assemblednight vision device to a universal rail having a plurality of ribsprovided on the rail, comprising: at least one raised portion providedon the surface of the housing; a clamping apparatus provided on asurface of the raised portion having first and second parallelprotuberant walls defining a channel for snugly seating the universalrail within, the walls each having an inner surface and an outer surfacethereof, wherein the inner surface of at least one wall is generallyconcave providing a mating surface for seating against an adjacentlateral side of the universal rail; and a biasing means for releasablyattaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail.
 2. The nightvision device housing of claim 1, wherein the clamping apparatus furthercomprises a protuberant member perpendicular to the walls for seating inbetween two consecutive rails of a universal rail.
 3. The night visiondevice housing of claim 1, wherein the concavity of the inner surface ofthe at least one wall of the clamping apparatus is beveled.
 4. The nightvision device housing of claim 1, wherein both the first and secondwalls of the clamping apparatus are generally concave.
 5. The nightvision device housing of claim 1, wherein the concavity of the innersurface of the at least one wall of the clamping apparatus resembles adovetail.
 6. The night vision device housing of claim 4, wherein thefirst wall is non-unitarily constructed with the clamping apparatus andboth first and second walls having axially aligned bores definedtherethrough, the bore of the second wall being threaded, the biasingmeans comprising: a thumbscrew provided along the axis of the bores,whereby rotation of the threaded screw in a predetermined directionadvances the thumbscrew within the threaded bore of the second walladvancing the first wall towards the second walls and securely grippingand attaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail locatedbetween the first and second walls.
 7. The night vision device housingof claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second walls have arecess defined therethrough, the biasing means comprising: a slidablyadvancing section provided within the recess, the advancing section andinner surface of the opposite wall having a generally concave contourfor tightly seating against adjacent lateral surfaces of the universalrail; the slidably advancing section and opposite wall having axialbores provided therethrough, the bores being axially aligned with oneanother, and oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of thewalls, the bore provided within the advancing section being threaded;and a rotating axial member provided along the axis, whereby the axialmember rotates to slidably advance the advancing section out of therecess and towards the adjacent lateral surface of the universal railsecurely affixing the clamping apparatus to the universal rail.
 8. Thenight vision device housing of claim 1, wherein the biasing meanscomprises a lever-actuated eccentric cam, whereby rotation of the leverlocks the cam against the adjacent lateral side of the universal rail.9. The night vision device housing of claim 8, wherein thelever-actuated eccentric cam is in communication with a cam bar disposedadjacent to the cam, the cam bar hingedly fixed to the second wall ofthe clamping apparatus, whereby rotating the lever operates to bias thecam bar away from the cam securely seating the cam bar under theadjacent lateral side of the universal rail, seating the adjacentlateral surface of the universal rail between the cam bar and the secondwall on one side, and tightly seating the lateral surface of theuniversal rail adjacent to the first wall in the concavity of the innersurface of the first wall.
 10. The night vision device housing of claim1, wherein the universal rail is one of a weapon rail, a rail providedon a head mount adapter, a rail provided on a helmet mount adapter, anda rail provided on a dual monocular bracket.
 11. The night vision devicehousing of claim 1, wherein the raised portion is unitarily constructedwith the monocular housing.
 12. The night vision device housing of claim1, wherein the raised portion is of a non-unitary construction withrespect to the housing and is attached to a preexisting night visionmonocular housing.
 13. The night vision device housing of claim 1,further comprising attachment means for attaching two novel night visionmonoculars together for use as a binocular.
 14. The night vision devicehousing of claim 13, wherein the attaching means comprises at least oneembossment provided on the surface of the housing, the at least oneembossment having an axial bore defined therethrough, whereby twohousings may be coupled to a hinge apparatus and used as a binocularwhen the embossments are pinned to the hinge apparatus through the axialbore.
 15. The night vision device housing of claim 1, further comprisinga battery compartment located generally within the raised portion of thehousing.
 16. An adapter for a preexisting night vision monocular deviceto be releasably attached to a rail surface, the adapter comprising: anupper surface provided with specific attachment provisions required toattach to the preexisting monocular mounting provision; and a lowersurface having a channel defined by first and second parallel framemembers projecting from the lower surface of the adapter and extendingparallel to the longitudinal axis of the channel, the first and secondflame members having first and second inner surfaces, respectively, forengaging first and second lateral surfaces of the rail, respectively,wherein at least one of the first and second inner surfaces of the framemember have a groove defined along their longitudinal axis foraccommodating the respective adjacent lateral surface of the universalrail within; and a biasing means for releasably gripping the framemembers to the lateral surfaces of the rail attaching the preexistingmonocular to the rail.
 17. The adapter of claim 16, wherein theattachment provisions provided on the upper surface of the adaptercomprises: a first and second wall projecting from the upper surfacedefining a slot therebetween, wherein the upper surface of the wallshave inwardly depending flanges, and the inner surfaces of the first andsecond walls have grooves provided along their longitudinal axis; and amale protuberance located perpendicularly within the slot, biasedupwardly from the upper surface of the adapter, wherein the inwardlydepending flanges function to retain a mounting bracket provided on thesurface of the preexisting monocular when the bracket slidably engageswith the grooves in the inner surfaces of the first and second walls.18. The adapter of claim 16, wherein the attachment provisions providedon the upper surface of the adapter comprise at least one threadedmember projecting axially upwards from the upper surface for engaging atleast one corresponding threaded bore provided in a housing of thepreexisting night vision monocular, and a rotating means for thethreaded member provided on an adjacent lateral surface of the adapter.19. A universal system for releasably mounting a novel night visionmonocular to a particular application and switching the monocular toother mounted applications more quickly and efficiently, the systemcomprising: a night vision monocular housing having a raised portion onat least one surface thereof, the raised portion provided with aclamping apparatus on an end, the apparatus having gripping walls and abiasing means for clamping lateral surfaces of a rail; a headgearadapter having a first end for attaching to a preexisting headgear and asecond end having a rail provided thereon for attaching to the clampingapparatus of the monocular; and a dual monocular bracket having meansfor releasably attaching to a preexisting headgear, and also having arail provided at both longitudinal extremities on the underside thereoffor attaching to the clamping apparatus of the monocular at bothextremities.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the preexistingheadgear is one of a helmet mount and a head mount.
 21. The system ofclaim 19, further comprising an attachment apparatus for attaching twonovel monoculars together for use as a binocular.